Behind the Blackthorn

Vašek and his beloved gamekeeper-grandpa Straka returned in 1980 for this concluding part of Václav Gajer’s “Šumava” trilogy. Za trnkovým keřem followed Na pytlácké stezce (On the Poacher’s Path, 1979), which itself came after Pod Jezevčí skálou (Beneath Badger Rock, 1978). The film series began when Prague boy Vašek was, on doctor’s orders, sent to get some country air on a stay with his grandfather. By now, little Vašek (popular child actor Tomáš Holý, 1968–1990) is putting to use everything he has learned over the years while spending time with his grandpa. He knows that nature must be protected and understood, for it does have its laws. But such laws are of little concern to the company that is constructing a holiday retreat within virgin Šumava territory. So Vašek decides to at the very least thwart the plans of a sawmill executive who has organised a mouflon hunt to entertain the director of the development firm… The last part of this trilogy also resolves an issue that has long troubled Vašek’s family: Straka, who became estranged from his son – the boy’s father (Ladislav Frej) – when he left behind the country life for the city many years ago, at last accepts his son once more. He uses the help of a blackthorn, behind which the truth is always told…